Hi all, I keep reading posts on this forum re usage of hyroquionne among other things and i cannot make it clear enough that those products or ingrediants are quite harmful. So i am posting the list of such products and ingrediants below which have been banned in many countries and are quite harmful for health and skin. Please do not use these products or products which has such ingrediants as listed below. I am copying and pasting the list from the brighterskin board that i am a member of and would like to share this with you all too, so that none of you wonderful members on this board go through the agony of damaged skin or have health problems from usage of such products.
So here goes:

That's a long list. I don't think I used any of them on the list. But I don't pay too close attention to every ingredient of the products I am using. Who knows something I am using now might just be on another list. I am feeling very tiring to keep up, why cann't the cosmetic maker take care of all this before they put a product onto the market

I am feeling very tiring to keep up, why cann't the cosmetic maker take care of all this before they put a product onto the market

I agree with you 100%...if only they made beauty products that are safe, non-irritating, non-comedogenic, natural, shared and explain all the drawbacks of the products then we dont have to worry a thing. Oh they must be honest about the ingredients as well!
As much as I like to read all the reviews and the launch of new products, I find that its exhausting to research fully into the suitability of the product for my skin and the ingredients .

I'm very bad at looking at the ingredients. Have always been amazed by many members here who are so learned or informed ! But pardon my ignorance, I guess all the more 'high end' brands (like Dior, Guerlain etc.) should not be risking to use such ingredients which are already banned?

This is a quote from the above purezing link on Hydroquinone "Hydroquinone
A severely toxic and very powerful chemical. Banned in the United Kingdom, but still used in the U.S. Found in skin lightening products and hair dyes, this chemical alters the skins natural structure inhibiting the production of Melanin. Without natural protection, the skin is more susceptible to skin cancer. Prolonged use of Hydroquinone will thicken collagen fibers damaging the connective tissues. The result is rough blotchy skin leaving it with a spotty caviar appearance.

Actually, I have read that this statement is FALSE. From what I read, Hydroquinone is not banned in any country, but rather you can only get it through a doctors prescription. There was a big write up about Hydroquinone in the New Beauty Magazine and they were dispelling some of the myths of Hydroquinone. That article also stated something about the tests that were conducted were done with ORAL Hydroquinone in high amounts, which most people do not take Hydroquinone orally.

Just wanted to write what I had read about the Hydroquinone. Everyone will have to make up their own minds after doing research on a skin care product to see if a product is right for them or not, or if they feel comfortable using it!

OK...give me a second while I get up off of the floor from laughing so hard. I'll get to the hydroquinone point of this thread....but first, let's talk about the two "toxic" websites listed above!

They forgot a "chemical" that is 100% deadly!!! They forgot to list WATER!!! No, seriously!!! Try staying underwater in your pool for 30 minutes without any breathing apparatus. You WILL die! Water is 100% fatal!!!

OK, OK...get my point?

As a professional cosmetic chemist, all I have to say about websites like that is HOGWASH and RUBBISH!! It is true that there are maybe 1 or 2 ingredients on it that I would avoid, such as Triethanolamine (TEA)....BUT THAT IS ALL! Virtually ALL of the rest have been put through EXTENSIVE safety tasting by the cosmetic manufacturers and they have PASSED every test for safety and efficacy. This is especially true for the PARABENS!!! The one and ONLY study that linked parabens to breast cancer turned out to be FLAWED and the person who did the study in England came out and announced in public that the study was flawed and there was NO LINK for parabens and breast cancer. All of this information is flawed and biased....PERIOD! Do not read or believe the internet spread (just like a virus) hype.

One person commented "why do the high end cosmetic users put these ingredients in their products" GOOD QUESTION!!! Why would a high end, very technologically savvy company knowingly use something that is supposed to be deadly toxic??? I would seemingly go against logic. The reason they use it is because they are aware of the safety data, and these materials have been PROVEN to be safe and effective in the load levels prescribed by the manufacturers!!!

Now, on to hydroquinone. It has NOT been banned, however, it may soon be banned in the very near future. The ONLY reason it is being banned is because of a very FEW cases of extreme skin lightening or even darkening from OVER USE. Now by over use I mean this. The cases that are problems are mostly from African countries where dark skinned people have literally BATHED themselves for years in high levels of hydroquinone to try to lighten their skin tone. This has caused the very few problems that have made hydroquinone look bad. For those in the US or Europe that use it in cosmetic formulas where the load level is a specified 4% or less, it is completely harmless yet effective. These people use the low loading level products to simply lighten a sun spot or an age spot, not their entire bodies!

Please, Please, Please, do NOT buy into the "tree hugger" internet "sky is falling" hype with cosmetic ingredients. It is simply urban legend or even misinformation put out by "green" companies trying to sell their alternatives.

If you don't believe me, then go dunk your head in a tub of water for 10 minutes straight...then you'll believe me when I say that WATER is a deadly, toxic, "chemical" and should be banned!

John

_________________President and Chief Formulator for "Never Over The Hill Cosmetics"

Thats a load of bull about few cases of overuse relating to skinlightening and just targeting african american gives hydroquionne a bad name.

For your info i am not african american, Secondly i did not bath myself in hydroquione. I was a 16 year old then when i bought one of the products on the list which had a % of hydroquione for the purpose of brightening my skin. I got into skin care round then and did not do my research well. I thought all skincare products were just amazing at that age and could not wait to try the products problem or no skin problems. Nothing was wrong with my skin, in fact it was light, smooth and had no pigmentation marks either.

Niether did i bath myself in Hydroquione!!. I have to say im still suffering the damage done and the bad hyperpigmentation is still yet to go away completly.

Now the reason why companies use such ingrediants, i can give one explanation!!! And that is at the expense of giving you problems later on and damaging the skin hydroquionne has beeen found to lighten skin in the early stages!. And companies are keeen to put such ingrediants in their product to MAKE MONEY. That is the only motivation for doing so. ANd they do this by targeting people with self confidence issues and not just african americans but many others who are using it to either lightening skin or brighten it or fading pigmentation spots!

Skin care manufacturers like to make money and that is the only reason you see many products coming into the market which is exactly the same or just a modification however the results are no better than the not modified version. Yes there are some who dont use such ingrediants but lets face it they are also in the business for making money!.

As for lightening/brightening and fading products well manufacturers know there is a huge market out there with consumers willing to buy this. And yes when something goes wrong it is always the consumer that gets blamed for using a product inappropriatly. Well what happens when you use the products as specified? NOTHING, YOU STILL GET BLAMED FOR IT!. Or these companies hide behind the quote "Results may vary!"

It is people like you who let this manufacturing companies get the upper hand and keeping up with saying there is nothing wrong with the product, it is the consumers who are using it wrong or saying that there are only a few cases. Well there are more than a few cases and no not from misuing it but cases resulting from using it as specified and still having damaging problems. But of course manufacturing companies will not admit to it. Why should they? There are there to sell the products not have such problems brought into light and having the problem of being sued or discontinuing production.

As for your scenario with water, well it does not make sense, yes if someone is stupid enough to stay under water without breathing of course ul die. But you cant bath in hydroquinone if you get a tube of the cream with only a percentage of the product and the cream is also expensive, hardly bathing in the stuff. Some idiots wana bathe that is there problem, but my problem is to do with what about those that use such products as specified.

Some products have mercury and steroids etc as well however these are not listed in the ingrediant list. Until you get it tested and oh find out that such things were in there. If people want to knowingly have problems later in life go ahead

Anyway i can go on and on about this so il rest my case here. The info is here for evryone. People can make their own judgements after reading the pros and cons whether to use or not, that is up to them

Simran, I am Asian with - skin type IV, and have used hydroquinone 2% in the past, with occasional salon treatments that were 6%. I found it incredibly helpful, but since I stopped about 5 years, ago, my pigmentation is resurfacing again.

Do you have a background or training in chemistry of any sort?

Specifically, what brand of product containing what % of hydroquinone did you use, and how long did you use the treatment for? Were you using it in conjunction with other products or on its own? Did you go out in the sun without sunscreen protection or did you take extra precautions for sun protection during the period of use? What period of time did it take for you to notice that it was having adverse effects on your skin?

There are so many variables, including your own individual skin type, lifestyle and genetic pre-disposition to pigmentation.

So I would hardly fly off and lambast John C. Hill for all the problems of skincare users. It's really quite unwarranted. He has been a source of incredibly informative and educated posts in relation to the chemistry and science underlying skincare products.

In fact, I share his distaste for many of the demonising websites, which are usually started by people directly or indirectly linked to the "natural" skincare lobby with considerable commercial interests. They can be incredibly adroit and persuasive when it comes to creating marketing spiel about "harmful" chemicals.

Parabens for example, have to be one of the most undeservedly and hysterically demonised ingredients in the skincare lexicon.

Since it was quite a long time ago when i was in high school so probably 8 or so years.
But the cream was i think palmers skin success fade cream.

I was not on any treatment in particular. Like i said i was facinated by skincare products at that age, so i tested out the cream in terms of could it make the skin any more brighter.
Anyway what i do remeber is i did not finish the whole product and i threw it away after a while i cause i noticed it would make the skin quite sensitive and red and burning.

Since then i have tried many fading products with lactic acid, glycolic acid, among other ingrediants such as arbutin, kojic acid that has a combination of some or all of this to treat the hyperpigmentation. It is sort of gone but still not. These ingrediants have sort of help fixed the problem but now they just dont work anymore. And yes i do use sunblock religiosly. Anyway since the past 2 years i stoped looking for fading products and just concentrate on diet and currently started using essential oil based products. I figure im wasting too much money on fading products which are just in name only so im just going for healthy looking skin look now and hope the skin will completly heal in time.

I no many variables come into account that cause pigmentation. But i do know what caused mine. Cause the only thing changed in the routine was that new product. Anyway i heard and read many accounts of people similar situation to mine if not much worse.

John has background in chemistry and his helpful comments on topics are appreciated, but thats not to say those who dont have background in this are talking out of thier minds. At the end of the day everybody gets their information from research and John gets his from research and maybe also practice. While i do take into account what he says holds some ground it is a wrong assumption to make that people who get damaging effects from hydroquionne are "Bathing" themselves in it in addition to everything against hydroquionne and other products/ingrediants are just hype.

I do apologize if my tone sounded abit harsh in my previous post. However I prefer people keep an open mind on both arguments and make their decision to use whatever accordingly.

John, I know you have a good background in this stuff and I respect your knowledge, but to compare HQ and water is, quite frankly disingenous. There has been a long history and numerous studies done on the dangers of skin lightening ingredients. Do a search on any post my me with HQ and you'll find several peer reviewed article links.

To be frank it really pisses me off that reputable spas and sellers are still pushing HQ products.

I do appreciate that me and simran are probably in the minority here, but there is a good reason for these ingredients being banned. If they were only ever used for short periods of time under a physician or derm then fine, but like any other so called prescription drug they can be bought over the internet by anyone. And lets face it, beautiful skin (which is what most of us want) is healthy skin and HQ is not compatible, long term, with healthy skin

I think using water in comparison to HQ paints a nice picture of how something you think is relatively safe can be harmful if used in excess. It wasn't that long ago I remember when I heard in the news that someone was participating in a contest where the person who drank the most gallons of water would win a wii console. The winner ended up dying from excess intake of water!

Some of the studies I've read about HQ is exactly what was mentioned, it was taken orally. Same thing with the hype about kojic acid being bad. Granted, because the safety of HQ is debatable in the LONG run, I wouldn't use it years on end..especially starting at the young age of 16. From what I've read, and I realize I probably haven't read enough, a large reason why HQ is under scrutiny of being banned is because many people do not do the research when starting to use this product and gets themselves in trouble. They don't get themselves to a derm, use sunscreen, etc. and when bad things happen it's always blamed on the product itself. So to prevent this from happening to people, it's easier to just ban OTC products and make it a prescription one.

Let's put it this way, I haven't found an ingredient that works amazingly for a majority of people that wouldn't be harmful if used in excess. I think that's because we're trying to prevent the inevitable here when we talk about skincare...we're trying to go against what nature is working towards (aging, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation) so the product is going to have to break something down, prevent something, slow down something that is a natural process. Put simply, interupting something that works in the complexity of our human bodies is bound to bring about other issues.

_________________Whatever you do, do it with passion and conviction...even if it means spending a couple hundred on something you want but don't need!

It comes back to "buyer beware". As a consumer, we own responsibilities to educate ourselves on the ups and downs of those "miracle" ingredients that we put on our face or in our body. And that's exactly all of us forum members here and this thread trying to do. We cannot simply believe the promises said on those fancy packages.

Hydroquinine is not illegal in the UK as you can get it on prescription, but it was banned to buy in the shops. This was as a reaction to the cosmetic products containing very high levels of HQ being sold in ethic shops, market stalls etc which caused lots of problems for the users, often because there was no advice with it on say using sunscreen and/or the packets are often in a another language the user does not know.

I'm not saying that HQ is safe as I'm not a chemist but I don't think top dermatologists would be prescribing it if it were unsafe to use. And I've never heard of them precribing the sorts of percentages which were being sold (and often still are illegally) as I described above.

As to why they banned all HQ OTC not say anything more than 2%, I don't know as I say you can get it prescribed so it can't be considered that dangerous. But one thing is that we often have knee jerk reactions to things. In some respects, it's a 'nanny state', things are often decided on the lowest common denominator. In the States you can just walk into any drugstore and buy rubbing alcohol, you can't just do that at Boots, it's all diluted with castor oil. Does this mean that rubbing alcohol is dangerous? Well it is in certain circumstances but not the way I want to use it. I also can't go and buy a bumper bottle of aspirin, we're only allowed two packs (each containing appox 16 tablets) at a time. I'm sure aspirin is pretty dangerous if you took a whole bottle at a time but I just want to do an aspirin mask..!

'If they were only ever used for short periods of time under a physician or derm then fine, but like any other so called prescription drug they can be bought over the internet by anyone'
IMO, that's not a reason to have something banned, in that case, then a lot of prescripton drugs would have to be banned in case they got into the wrong hands.

Just a note about the steroid creams. Obviously, over-use is not good and you shouldn't use them for prolonged periods, but I hope no one who has been prescribed these products for skin complaints such as eczema will panic when they read the warning. Sometimes a steroid can be one of the few things to get such conditions back under control. However, if you can find a milder solution, so much the better.

Even as I'm moving toward more natural and organic product in every facet of my life, I completely agree with John's point. I like more natural products not because of all those who prey upon my fear, but because there are fewer ingredients; for my my 40 something skin less is definitely more.

In addition to broadcast media, sites like these are designed to keep consumers in a perpetual state of fear - We're being slowly conditioned to think that anything chemical is "bad" for you, while at the same time we forget that EVERYTHING is chemical when you get down to the molecular structure of everything.

I actually liked the "water" analogy because it demonstrates very well how anything can be dangerous and toxic if it's not used correctly.

Cholocate, coffee, red wine are now "good" for you in moderate amounts but only 10 years ago these very products were very "bad". Vitamins are good according to some doctors and bad according to others. Who are we supposed to believe? If we cave in to all the most recent studies, we'll soon have no more conviction than a policition who leads by the polls...

I noticed Murad's skin brightener wasn't on this list, yet it contains 2% hydroquinone. I've used this product effectively to reduce hyperpigmentation on my hands. The label on this product does caution users against using it for longer than 3 months. I'm still on the fence about hydroquinone, but reason that in small doses, it's probably OK.

By all means, we should be excercising our reasonable before selecting the food we eat or the stuff we place on our skin; but placing blind faith in websites designed to make you fear everything to do with health and beauty isn't a reasonable exercise in good judgement.

In the meantime...the Japanese geishas have been using Nightingale Droppings for quite a while for skin lightening. Far as I can tell, they contain "an enzyme", not hydroquinone or steroids (according to the website). I get them from www.chidoriyaworld.com and have been using them for ~ 8 months for hyperpigmentation spots on my face d/t sun exposure. Slooooowly seeing some fading of these plus overall whitening and clarifying. It doesn't happen in a flash! but gradually.

They come in a powder form that you mix with water and apply as a thin mask. The smell is...um...kinda.....organic. But not too offensive. You get used to it.

Has anyone else tried these? What results did you get? What is the "enzyme" it contains and should I be "skeered" to use them? TIA

I did not overuse hydroquinone but got a very severe hyperpigmentation reaction from it. It took months to bleach it away.

Rats fed hydroquinone (yes at high doses) get skin tumors and leukemia (done by the reputable NIEHS). It is also quite toxic. If you doubt this look at the Materials Data Handling Sheet from Manufacturers or the Sigma Aldrich suspect carcinogen list.

It can be absorbed through the skin (MW =110)and at topical concentrations from 2-4% local concentrations can get higher than when ingested in the high doses of the rat tests. The fact that it can sunsensitize even after discontinuation of use shows it is not quickly removed from the skin tissue. I do not believe that it is alarmist to be concerned.

simran, are you sure you're not overreacting to the hysteria that websites like these are only too happy to promote?

no. I mean it is not like i developed hysteria all of a sudden. I been reading up on hydroquionne and other ingrediants for 5 plus years now. And my opinion got more and more reinforced each time. So personally i have made up my opinion on not to use it.

I also have heard ALOT of horror/bad stories about such ingrediants from other users as well on the skin brightening/lightening boards. I mean yes some of them are quite stupid to use such things in huge quantities but most are not

First, my analogy with "water" is just that, and analogy. I was not attempting to compare the safety aspects of water directly to that of hydroquinone. Those of you familiar with the word "sarcastic" know where I am coming from with the water thing...

Next, I am not a supporter of hydroquinone, nor am I trying to defend it. What I do know is that hydroquinone has given relief to millions who have suffered disfiguring pigmentation problems over the past decades. Under a dermatologists' care and supervision, the material works as intended. Once again, there have been some cases of harsh reaction to this material. These are not to be taken lightly.

Here is a very good information piece on the upcoming ruling and the reasoning behind it, for the potential ban on use of Hydroquinone.

The Technical Director of our Consumer Testing Lab here where I work used to own "DermTech" which was a dermatological institute based in San Diego. He is an expect in the field of skin care and treatment. He feels Hydroquinone has be unfairly judged in this case. Recently, he received this letter from the American Acadamy of Dermatology Association attemptin to "fight" the proposed ban on Hydroquinone. So, for your information, here is how this very knowledgable group of chemists and doctors feel about the subject...

Dear Dr. Rheins:

The AADA is extremely concerned about potential actions by the FDA to change the status of over-the-counter (OTC) skin bleaching drug products containing hydroquinone to prescription only. On August 29th, the FDA announced a proposed rule which would declare that over-the-counter hydroquinone products are not generally recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded. Additionally, this ruling states that all hydroquinone products will be required to undergo a new drug approval application for continued marketing and distribution thus eliminating almost all hydroquinone products.

The FDA is under the impression that the sole intended benefit of products containing hydroquinone is to improve the userâs appearance by bleaching the skin and that all individuals using the products are at risk of developing ochronosis. The most alarming assumption being made by the FDA is that the ingredient is carcinogenic. There is no substantial basis for the FDAâs claims against the use and distribution of hydroquinone-containing products.

Submitting comments to the FDA (see bullet points below);
Encouraging your patients to share their personal hydroquinone experiences with the FDA;
Completing a very short 7 question survey based on your experiences using hydroquinone via this link: www.capitolconnect.com/aad

To submit your comments and your patients' comments to the FDA, please use the following contact information. Comments are due no later than December 27, 2006.

Hydroquinone is one of the most effective molecules for the treatment of dark discoloration over the past 40-50 years and has been used in millions of people. It is used to treat the top concerns among our patients including melasma, photo-aging, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, medically and cosmetic disfiguring dyschromias.
Since 1961, hydroquinone has demonstrated a safe and effect profile among clinicians prescribing or recommending hydroquinone products. In spite of humans exposure to natural sources of hydroquinone in wheat, pears, berries, coffee, tea, onions, rice and red wine, there is not an association with carcinogenicity. There have been no reported cases of related malignancies in more than 50 years of manufacture and use of HQ.

_________________President and Chief Formulator for "Never Over The Hill Cosmetics"

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Fri Dec 09, 2016 8:22 am

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